Benedict Cumberbatch's People Deny He's In Star Wars, Of Course

Yesterday we brought you a fuzzy rumor that Benedict Cumberbatch was in line for a role in Star Wars: Episode VII. Today we are obligated to bring you the denial from his representative. Talking to The Daily News the Star Trek Into Darkness and Sherlock star's rep said this:

“There is no truth to the rumour Benedict has been cast in Star Wars. I think the rumours are circling because JJ and Benedict have just recently had a wonderful time working together on Star Trek .”

You know it's an official rep for a British actor when they put the extra "u" in "rumor," right?

So should you buy this denial? Depending on how skeptical you feel like being. Rumors that emerge before official sources are ready to confirm them are routinely debunked even if they turned out to be true, like Hugh Jackman's X-Men: First Class cameo. Cumberbatch himself has been more than complicit in jerking our chains, repeatedly insisting he wasn't playing Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness when, well… this happened. If Cumberbatch's reps didn't deny the Star Wars casting rumor, it would only fuel the fire saying it was true. So they had to speak out and say it wasn't happening… even if all that means is that no one is ready to admit that it's happening.

Regardless, we've been treading lightly with the rumor, indulging in speculation while acknowledging that the truth could turn out to be quite different. But hey, J.J. Abrams only has himself to blame, leaving a complete news vacuum while he preps Episode VII and denying even the Disney faithful a glimpse at what he's planning. Combine that lack of real info with the late-August news slump and it's no wonder the Cumberbatch rumor caught fire-- for all we know, Abrams put it out there himself to distract us from any real work he may be doing.

OK, that may be jumping ahead a bit into a conspiracy theory. Regardless, I'm not assuming anything one way or another about Cumberbatch's potential Star Wars presence until official word comes down-- which essentially leaves us exactly where we were before the rumor began. Oh, Internet. You are an endless cycle of conversation that somehow gets us no closer to Episode VII's 2015 release.